Month: October 2011

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‘In the European concert of usual nations, France remains absent: since at least Lully, it has been accepted that the French are not musical, or even music-loving. It is true that the French language does not naturally encourage expression in the form of sound, that Cartesianism rejects arty vagueness but has not for all that created forms which are guaranteed to last. It’s hard to know what will get you first – the avalanche of imitative Europop, Johnny Hallyday’s clunky cover versions or the moans and heavy breathing from the many French attendants of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin. Discourse on music easily exceeds the music itself, giving rise to more literature, debate, controversy and polemics than would seem reasonable.’ — Maurice Fleuret

‘I don’t think there is any real French identity in music. We had our fair share of classic composers but since the 20th century there have been few French singers that have become world famous. There’s this famous quote, I don’t remember exactly who it’s from, but probably someone from The Rolling Stones said “French pop music is like English wine”. Still, for my generation of pop stars at least, you haven’t grown up alone in a bubble. You take stuff from all over the world, but at the same time your parents or society are giving you something that might be more… nationalist. Maybe the next generation will be more lost in this, with national specificity decreasing, not only culture and arts but… It’s globalization. I think there is no way to fight against this, it’s definitely stronger than us.’ — Zazie

Mylène Farmer
Lorie
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Christophe Willem
Fatal Bazooka
Alizée
Yelle
Sliimy
Marc Lavoine
Nolwenn Leroy
Les Rita Mitsouko
Brigitte
M. Pokora
Naommon
Vanessa Paradis

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‘First single from her second studio album Ainsi soit je…, it was first released on 16 October 1987. It was a great hit in 1987 and is among Mylene Farmer’s three best-selling singles. The song mentions the Chevalier d’Eon, a French diplomat, spy and soldier who lived the second half of his life as a woman, that which provides some ambiguity as to the identity search. Following the success of the song, a website claimed that Farmer was actually a transsexual. Major arguments of this theory were that the photos of the singer’s childhood were modified with Photoshop, she did not have children, her childhood was almost never mentioned and there were some inconsistency in her interviews. This rumor was false and the website is now closed.’ — paroles-musique.com

Mylene Farmer ‘Sans contrefaction’

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‘Lorie is a multi-platinum singer who has sold over eight million albums and singles worldwide as of December 2007. She is sometimes also referred to as the French version of Britney Spears. “Je vais vite” was released as the first single from her fifth studio album, 2lor en moi?. It was first made available for download on September 23, 2007 and then was released as a physical single on December 3, 2007. The song, which has dance and electro sonorities, achieved success in France, and Belgium, but unfortunately for Lorie, the change in her music style from the squeaky clean image for which she was known to a harder, sexier sound and look didn’t attract enough fans; therefore, unlike her previous singles, it was never certified despite sales of over 73,000 copies.’ — Wikipedia

Lorie ‘Je Vais Vite’ (2007)

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‘Charlotte Gainsbourg recorded “Elastique” in 1986 for Phillips Records. The song is lifted from her first album Charlotte Forever, which she recorded when she was 15 years old. In parts of the world, the album was released under the controversial title Lemon Incest. Like all the tracks on the album, the song was composed and produced by her father the legendary French songwriter and recording artist Serge Gainsbourg and was inspired by the film of the same name that he directed and in which they both starred. The song was a top ten hit in France. After the album’s release, more than twenty years passed before she released two albums as an adult (5:55 and IRM) to commercial and critical success.’ — The Quietus

Charlotte Gainsbourg ‘Elastique’

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‘Christophe Willem is a French singer and the winner of the fourth edition of Nouvelle Star (French version of American Idol) in 2006. “Double je” was composed by the French artist Zazie. It was his third single and the second one from his debut album, Inventaire. In France, the single entered at number-one on the French Singles Chart, on 2 June 2007, selling 38,002 units this week. It remained for seven non consecutive weeks at the top, then dropped slowly almost every week. The single stayed for 18 weeks in the top ten, 24 weeks in the top 50 and 35 weeks in the top 100. Certified Platinum disc by the SNEP, the song was the best-selling single of the year in France, with 309,481 sales.’ — ultra pop.be

Christophe Willem ‘Double Jeu’

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‘Fatal Bazooka is a French spoof rap band consisting of Michaël Youn, Vincent Desagnat and Benjamin Morgaine. The act originated in a 2002 radio show which its members hosted at the time. Fatal Bazooka is also the name of the fictitious singer of the group, played by Michaël Youn. The group transposes the urban style within the framework of the snow-covered mountains of Savoy, and caricatures certain French rappers there. This single parodies the song “Confessions nocturnes” by Diam’s and Vitaa. Michaël Youn, alias “Fatal”, parodies Diam’s character, while Pascal Obispo, alias “Vitoo”, takes on Vitaa. The music is identical to the original song, but the words are modified. The single peaked at #1 in France in January 2007 and sold more than 550,000 copies.’ — Fatal_Bazooka.com

Fatal Bazooka ‘Fous ta cagoule’

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‘”Je suis un homme” is a 2007 pop song recorded by French singer Zazie. It was the second single from her sixth studio album Totem and was released in early October 2007. It was the singer’s most successful solo single, being a top ten hit in France and Belgium. Written and composed by Zazie, alongside Philippe Paradis and Jean-Pierre Pilot, the song deals in a critical and pessimistic way about the human behavior towards the environmental issues and the consumer society. The song was nominated at the 2008 Victoires de la Musique in the category ‘Original song of the year’, but did not win.’ — TV5.fr

Zazie ‘Je Suis Homme’

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‘Alizée was discovered by Mylène Farmer, following her winning performance in the talent show, Graines de Star, in 1999. While collaborating with Mylène Farmer and Laurent Boutonnat, Alizée released two albums, both of which were hits inside and outside of France. “Mademoiselle Juliette” was released as the first single from her third studio album Psychédélices. It was released September 30, 2007, Alizée’s first single in 4 years. The single debuted on position twenty-two on the France Top 100 Singles chart. It only held its peak position for a week, later falling to position fifty-two, dropping thirty positions. After falling to position fifty-two, “Mademoiselle Juliette” stood on the charts for six more weeks. Eventually falling to position ninety-nine and leaving the chart afterward.’ — Musique_Radio.com

Alizée ‘Mademoiselle Juliette’

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‘”À cause des garçons” (French: “Because of the Boys”) is a song first released by the French duo À Caus’ des Garçons comprising Laurence Heller and Hélène Bérard in 1987. It was covered by French trio Yelle on their 2007 debut album Pop Up, released as its lead single. It reached the number 2 position in the Belgian charts and number 11 in the French charts. The Riot in Belgium remix of the song is featured on the soundtrack to the Electronic Arts video games Need for Speed: ProStreet and Euro 2008. Even though their songs are sung exclusively in French, Yelle have enjoyed a significant following overseas in non-French speaking countries.’ — auralstates.com

Yelle ‘A Cause Des Garcons’

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’20 year old French Moroccan-Algerian singer-songwriter Yanis Sahraouis is known to his French fans simply as Sliimy. The unusual nickname rhymes with “Jimmy” and according to Sliimy, “the two ii’s are just meant to make you smile.” While still in high school the quirky young singer from Saint-Etienne, France has already earned a gold record in his home country where he is signed to Warner Bros. At 20 years old, and three days before the release of his first album, Sliimy came out in the media as gay. Both the single “Paint Your Face” and the album of the same title from which it was lifted reached number 2 in the French pop charts in 2009.’ — sur-staragora.com

Sliimy ‘Paint Your Face’

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‘Marc Lavoine is a French singer born near Paris. He was labeled a heart throb at the beginning of his career and remains popular. He released his first album, Le Parking des Anges, in 1985 with his song “Elle a les yeux revolver” as a favorite among teens. After notching up impressive sales figures of 300,000 copies of his latest album – and 600,000 copies of his chart-topping single “J’ai tout oublié”! – Marc Lavoine bowed to popular demand and returned to the live circuit in 2003. Fast approaching 40, but having lost none of his dark good looks and seductive charm, the singer proved a big hit when he took to the stage at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint Martin in Paris (14 – 25 May). Lavoine’s concerts, which included old favourites from his early days as well as more recent hits, attracted a massive turn-out of fans.’ — rfimusic.com

Marc Lavoine Feat. Florent Pagny ‘Un Ami’ (2007)

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‘Nolwenn Leroy is a French singer and songwriter, discovered by the French television reality show Star Academy. “Nolwenn Ohwo!” is a 2006 song recorded by Leroy. It was the first single from her second studio album Histoires Naturelles. The song was written by famous singers-songwriters Laurent Voulzy and Alain Souchon. it entered the French single chart two days before, at #47, before climbing straight to #1 the week after. Leroy’s music has been studied for its neurological impact in geriatric populations. Researchers found that Leroy’s recordings might have a more beneficial effect than other music. To describe the phenomenon they coined the term the Nolwenn Effect, saying: “the music of Nolwenn Leroy appears to have a different effect on brain-based modulation of gait and stance than other music tested to date”.’ — lescharts.com

Nolwenn Leroy ‘Nolwenn Ohwo’

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‘Les Rita Mitsouko began performing in the early 1980s in alternative spaces such as the Pali-Kao, a squatted factory building in Belleville, Paris. The band first achieved major popular success in 1985, with the release of the second single from their first album: “Marcia baila” rose to number 2 on the French record charts that summer. Philippe Gautier directed a vibrant and widely viewed music video to accompany the record. “Marcia Baila” is an homage to Argentine choreographer and dancer Marcia Moretto, with whom Catherine Ringer had studied and performed in the 1970s. Moretto died of cancer in 1981 at the age of 32. On Wednesday 28 November 2007, Fred Chichin died from cancer while the band had just cancelled their previous concert dates in Paris. He was only diagnosed with the disease two months before.’ — lescharts.com

Les Rita Mitsouko ‘Marcia Baila’

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‘One day in 2008, in a falafel restaurant on rue des Rosiers, singers Sylvie Hoarau and Aurélie Maggiori formed Brigitte—a retro-folk duo of self-professed broads who get high on ABBA and gangsta stories. Recently profiled in French Elle and featured on Virgin Radio, Brigitte is currently making waves on the Paris club circuit with the pair’s sexy brand of hippie sounds and stories of falling apart in the presence of gorgeous guys: “Si j’avais le coeur dur comme une pierre/ j’embrasserais tous les garçons de la terre/ mais moi j’ai un coeur comme du chewing gum/ tu me goutes et je te colle.” (If I had a heart hard as stone/ I’d kiss all the boys on Earth/ but I’ve a heart like chewing gum/ taste me and I’ll stick to you.) They are the French music darlings of the moment.’ — Girl Talk

Brigitte ‘Ma Benz’

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‘Mega-popular French pop star M. Pokora is very famous for his body tattoos including: “POKORA” meaning humility in Polish (also the artist’s adopted artistic name) inscribed on his right arm in capital letters. “Only God Can Judge Me” on the right arm in English Chinese calligraphy signifying “Creativity”, “Peace” and “Patience” surrounded by a dragon on his left shoulder. The letter M signifying his name (Matthieu) surrounded by colorful flames on his left arm. A tattoo on the calf symbolizing dancing. A famous saying in Arabic calligraphy on his neck. “Ambition” on his lower back in Chinese calligraphy surrounded by chains and two wings. Letter X on his right wrist signifying brotherhood/friendship, as a tribute to his close friend Djibril Cissé, a footballer who makes the X sign with his arms every time he scores in a soccer game. A star between his left thumb and forefinger. Star-flower near his left ear.’ — Skyrock

M. Pokora ‘They Talk Sh*t About Me’

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‘“Electro-purple-fluoro-plastic-sulky-acid-housey-soul-clashy-disco-sequin-pop” is how Paris-to-Harlem transplant Naommon aptly describes his music. A child of the Eighties, teen of the Nineties, clubber of the 2000s, Naommon embodies—both musically and physically—a myriad of continually morphing influences from the spaceglam of Bowie, androgyny of Prince and acidfunk of Deee-Lite, to London’s creatively fucked up NagNagNag parties and New York’s popping Downtown scene. It was Naommon’s appearance on the French talent TV show, “Popstars” (similar to MTV’s “Making The Band”), that sparked collaborations with hot electro producers Christophe Dallaca and Stéphane Deschezeaux (Kiko & Gino), resulting in several hot singles.’ — livingelectro.com

Naommon ‘You Go to My Head’

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p.s. Hey. Let’s see … oh, please keep those favorite books lists coming in, thanks! I think that is all from me for now. ** Allesfliesst, I think you may be in Italy already. Glad to hear it went so splendidly up north and to learn that Stockholm lived up to, well, my dreams of it, at least. No, I didn’t know of Mette Ingvartsen’s work, and, based on a quick viewing of the first few minutes, it does look very interesting. Gisele probably knows that work. Everyone, Allesliesst tips the work of the Danish choreographer Mette Ingvartsen, and you can watch a video of one of her pieces, ‘To Come’, where she, in the words of Allesfliesst, ‘works with the (re-)arrangements of bodies in porn’ here. It looks pretty interesting, and you might want to check that out. Thanks! That poster was certainly intriguing. It’s a film? Seemed so? No, I haven’t received a copy of the performance research issue. If they don’t mind, I would love a copy. If it’s not their thing to send copies to minor contributors, I’ll just try to find and check out the magazine during my Paris travels. Safe, fruitful trip. ** David Ehrenstein, Good morning, David. Ah, George Putnam … I grew up bemused and often guffawing at his local TV antics. If he’d been born a few decades later, he could have given Beck and Limbaugh a run for their audience. That doc sounds hilarious. I’ll watch for any signs of it. How did that panel go? It sounds potentially quite fascinating. I’m curious about that Sal Mineo bio. I’ve heard a lot of advance buzz about it. ** Ken Baumann, It was indeed, my friend. Thank you extraordinarily again. Love, me. ** Matthew Polzin, Hey, Matthew. Thanks for your list chipping. Wholesome sounds exciting to me. The grass is always greener and all that. How was your weekend? ** Katalyze, Hey, K! Wow, yeah, that Teenage Bedroom blog is killer indeed. Bookmarked. Everyone, artist and d.l. Katalyze directs all of us who might be interested — and I suspect that interest in this case will be a fairly universal thing — to a blog called Teenage Bedroom. I bookmarked it. I wouldn’t be surprised if you do too. Books/favorites of any kind are most welcome, obviously. Cool. Yeah, isn’t Patrick’s novel terrific? Totally. You good, pal? How’s art work and everything else going? ** 5strings, The Louvre’s basement aka the ruins of the Louvre’s predecessor is kind of the best part, but I guess only or mainly if you’re into looking at Paris’ skeleton like I am. After saying that about the French not being paranormal lovers, there was this documentary on TV last night about how popular psychics are among provincial French people, so never mind. The show followed around this very successful French psychic who had the bespectacled face and svelte, nerdy body of a French intellectual type topped off with a giant afro that put Angela Davis’s one to shame. Psychic charisma, I guess? I have a Halloween mask post coming up, but I don’t think they’re latex. Well, I don’t know, maybe. Didn’t see any Ben Coopers in my research, sorry. I saw at least one of the ‘Howling’ movies. I only remember the first one. It was hyped as having the best human-to-wolfman transformation scene ever. Maybe it did at the time. I bet now it looks neither here nor there. ** Sypha, Greetings, Mr. S. ** Joseph, Goodness gracious, man! How awfully nice it is to see you! Holy shit, what’s been going on? Weren’t you living in DC the last time I spoke to you? (If I’m spacing/mixed up, forgive me). Yeah, come back. Start by telling me what’s what and what has been what and etc. re: you, if you don’t mind. Or, if you do, dude, hello supreme to you to say the least, pal. ** Armando, Hey! Awesome that you got to see ‘Jerk’, and super awesome that you liked it! Thanks a lot. Yeah, Jonathan is amazing. Yeah, thanks a lot, man. I’m really, really happy to hear that! Oh, about ‘Oliver Twink’, hunh, you just reminded me that someone in the UK asked me if he could turn it into a … short film or performance piece or something a year or more ago, and I said yeah, and then I never heard anything from him again, so I don’t know what’s up with that. You can totally direct an ‘Oliver Twink’ piece if you like. Consider this my official permission. What an awesome idea. Yeah, thanks again and a ton, man! ** Sublethal, Hey. Oh, sure, I have that feeling all the time. That’s part of what drives the blog since it gives me an official reason to discover things and research them in the process of having to come up with 6 posts a week. It never ends. And that’s one of the big reasons I long for immortality. Kevin is a total force of nature. Let me join you in awe and wonder at his genius and its evidence. Ha ha, I haven’t read the Nicholson Baker interview yet — I just got my copies of TPR a couple of days ago — but that is a pretty funny quote. Thanks, man. ** JoeM, Hi, Joe. That CAD poem is great. Yeah, I kind of figure that anyone who wants to corner me correspondence-wise knows exactly how and where to do it. My only guess on that MJ recording, and this is giving the doctor credit for which he probably isn’t deserving, is that maybe he recorded it to play back to MJ to prove to him how fucked up he was? Yeah, it doesn’t look good for the doctor as far as the trial goes, but I have this feeling the defense is going to go for the Republicans’ strategy of ‘fuck the truth’ and obfuscation, and, in America these days, there’s nothing to say that won’t work. We’ll see. I don’t know Liz Lochead — I’ll hunt her stuff down — but I do know Edwin Morgan’s poetry. I remember it being pretty good too. ** Pisycaca, Hi, Montse! Nuit Blanche was really big fun. Paris was packed to the rafters, which was cool, although the giant length of the lines to see the coolest stuff meant that I didn’t end up seeing anywhere close to the amount of things I’d hoped. Hm, I’ll see if there’s good evidence of NB out there, and I’ll see if it’s enough on its own to warrant post appearance, and, if so, yeah, I might just do an NB post. I’ll check. Sorry to hear about the burger joint’s mediocrity. I wish new things were always reliably better than old things. That’s the way it should be. Love to you. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. Well, I certainly would hope your 10 seconds got a great response. They were 10 seconds extremely well spent. Hooray about the imminence of the new YnY! Yes, please, an alert as soon as it becomes available, and thank you kindly. ** Steevee, I always get hungrier as soon summer turns to fall. I don’t know why, and I don’t know if that’s a universal syndrome. I hope your appetite levels out without outside help, obviously. ** Chris Cochrane, Hi, C. Sure, my social security number will be on its way to you today. 50/50 split? Sure, I guess so. Does that seem like the way to go to you? Thanks for reminding me about The Wire guy, shit, yes, I’ll ask Gisele today. Things have been kind of crazy here, and I’ve been spaced/scrambled. Thanks about ‘FH’. Have a killer of a time at Cornell. ** Bernard Welt, Hi, B, old pal! Aw, thanks about the PR interview. That’s cool and kind of you. It sure would be nice if the interview changed the general perception of my subject matter, but I’ve learned not to hope too much in that topic’s regard. Great about the great time with the Uncanny. And with the Uncanny class too. Yeah, just send me word whenever word seems timely. ** Misanthrope, Good, good. Yeah, I mean, whatever it was, you really need to get on improving your health right now and use that incident as a wake-up call. Improving your health isn’t going to cost you anything unless the doc prescribes some kind of medication to help you, in which case, you just have to bite the bullet and sacrifice other things if necessary and do what he says. Period. Okay, enough said for now. You see the doc tomorrow? I want to know exactly what happens, okay? A wedding full of homosexuals? Welcome to the 21st century, I guess. Sounds fun. I would think that with all those homos around, you’re lucky to have come away from that glory hole quip with your propriety and taste buds in tact. ** Bill, Hi, Bill. Oh, I don’t really expect the readers of the Cycle to pick up on all that heavy, complicated structural stuff. That was a system or rather interlocking series of systems that I devised for my own benefit. I needed that there to write the Cycle. In some cases, a reader would have to really hunt and pry pretty intricately to find the structure. I guess I think that if a reader is a type of reader who likes to know how things work, knowing that system is there could add some levels to the work’s effect. But I didn’t intend the system itself to be in Cycle’s forefront. Awareness of and interest in it is optional, I guess I would say. Making lists is a particular, vexing yet fun thing, for sure. It’s like you have to find just the right position in relationship to the form, and just finding that position is tricky. Main thing: have fun with it, and thanks much for doing one. Bon Monday. ** Kevin Killian, Mr. Killian! Thank you again, my great and generous friend and colleague and hero. Yes, Joe Brainard’s work and its recognition has that problem supreme. I looked over David E.’s shoulder and read about that Kylie/Carax film. Amazing idea! Wow! I’m going to see if I can find out more about that using my French contacts. Her Michael McClure mention in that interview made me go back and read his poetry for the first time in ages, and I liked it a bunch more than I expected. You met Elijah Burgher! I’m so pleased that the blog had something to do with you guys getting to know one another. I’ll bet he’s heck of a guy, just like his work. Once again, all my thanks to you for the enlightened and enlightening weekend, Kevin! ** Charlie m, Hi, Charlie. Glad you enjoyed it, man. ** Tender prey, Hi, Marc. Thanks a lot about the Halloween post. No, I only learned of Bartlett’s work very recently and during Gisele’s and my hunt for artists to include in one of the shows we’re curating for the Pompidou festival. We’re going to show one or two of his dolls and some of his photographs. Interesting about your evolving curatorial stuff. Yeah, G. and I are in high speed evolution on ours at the moment. Comparing notes with you via Skype would be cool if you feel like it. Sure, I’ll check with Stephen when he gets back from the Sunn0))) tour about contacting Alan Moore. They know each other and have done two or three collaborations thus far. I so wish you could see the Munch retro. It’s really unbelievable, really revelatory for me, and I had already loved his work. But seeing it in person, Jesus! You’ve met Winkfield! I did too several times in the 80s through, yes, also poet friends. He’s a sweetheart. I’m going to see what I can find about the Mike Kelley show online. There’s a terrific show here right now by his compatriot Jim Shaw. Thanks, Marc! Happy new week to you too! ** Okay. Today I give you a gig composed of what might be characterized not inaccurately as some of my French pop music guilty pleasures, some less guilty than others. Since, apart from maybe one or remotely, possibly two tunes up there, all of you outside the borders of France are unlikely to have ever heard that stuff before, consider this post either a good deed or an unnecessary, trashy onslaught from the French hit parade as you like. That is all. See you tomorrow.